A record of travels, science, projects and anything else that strikes my fancy

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Just a short shaming....

I normally try to keep out of politics, but a story on NPR this morning has bothered me all day so far. The (insert colorful descriptive expletive here) in the Republican party have decided to make the new mammogram guidelines a political tool. Essentially declaring that the government wants to take away your ability to get an annual mammogram if you are under 50. From the story:

"A group of Republican congresswomen, including Rep. Jean Schmidt of Ohio, held a press conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday to warn that access to mammograms could be restricted.

"That's why I was so outraged by it," Schmidt said, adding, "Every year, I'm allowed to have a mammogram, because that's what the recommendations are. My fear is it'll be every two years, and then maybe every three years.""

All I have to say is FOR SHAME. HOW DARE YOU!?! First, do you think that private insurance companies will hesitate to adopt and enforce these new guidelines themselves if they think they can get away with it and make a buck? Second and more importantly "Every year I'm allowed to have a mammogram..." Yeah lady(if we can even consider you a lady), because you have some of the top health insurance in the country, (which comes out of my tax dollars...). What about the 17 MILLION + UNINSURED WOMEN who likely have NO ACCESS TO MAMMOGRAMS AT ALL. You want to talk about death sentence. By fighting against public health care you are sentencing American citizens to death. Full stop. Individuals without health coverage are more likely to die of cancer. Period.